The Logistics of Caring

UPS founder Jim Casey established The UPS Foundation in 1951 with a mission to help build stronger and more resilient communities around the world. And that's exactly what we've been doing for more than 60 years now.

To us, giving means more than writing a check. It means combining employees' skill, passion and time with our logistics expertise, transportation assets and charitable donations* to make a measurable difference in society. In 2013, we invested over 1.8 million volunteer hours and more than $100 million dollars into our global communities.

As our communities continue to grow and evolve, so do we. The Foundation's current philanthropic approach focuses on four areas that represent the purpose of our mission and reflect UPS's corporate values and expertise.

*The UPS Foundation does not accept or respond to unsolicited grant proposals.

Focusing Our Efforts

VolunteerismPromoting volunteerism and building capacity within the nonprofit sector

Volunteerism

Community SafetyEnhancing community well-being through road safety and humanitarian relief

Community Safety

EnvironmentSupporting energy conservation and reforestation

Environment

UPS's longstanding policies and inclusive culture make it one of the most diverse companies in the world. But we know an internal focus isn't enough, so The UPS Foundation also supports community efforts to provide diverse populations with advancement opportunities.

We fund specific organizations focused on enhancing opportunities for higher education, economic empowerment, mentorship and inclusion for underserved or underrepresented segments of society.

Giving StrategyIn 2013, we donated $7.6 million to 41 non-profit organizations that align with the four pillars of our diversity giving strategy. Select examples of those partnerships include:

Access to Higher EducationThe United Negro College Fund (UNCF) is the nation's largest and most effective minority education organization. Their goal is to increase the number of African American college graduates every year, and The UPS Foundation is here to help. Since 1972, we have provided scholarship funds to undergraduate students at each of the 37 UNCF-member colleges that have produced more than 400,000 graduates to date.

Economic EmpowermentThe UPS Foundation has been providing grant funding to Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) since 1988. As a result of our support, PVA has been able to expand Operation PAVE (Paving Access for Veterans Employment), a program that provides career counseling and employment opportunities to veterans with complex needs.

The UPS Foundation has supported the National Urban League for more than 50 years. Since 2009, we have focused our investments on the growth and development of the National Urban League's Entrepreneurship Center Program (ECP). These training centers work with minority entrepreneurs to enhance their management skills so they can recognize and act on business opportunities, and qualify for financing that leads to increased economic growth.

MentorshipThe UPS Foundation works with 100 Black Men of America, Inc., a group of African American business leaders and role models whose diverse talents are used to mentor young adults and motivate them to succeed. The UPS Foundation has invested millions in the organization to help build its infrastructure, increase the number of national chapters and provide college scholarships to more than 350 students.

InclusionThe Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. In addition to their other efforts, HRC has joined forces with The UPS Foundation to create and fund the Workplace Project. The collaboration advocates for policies that prohibit discrimination against LGBT workers, provide employees with equal benefits and encourage appropriate marketing within every work environment.

UPS employees are passionate about making the world a better place, which is why they volunteer for more than 1.8 million hours in our local communities and with their favorite nonprofit organizations every year. The UPS Foundation provides those organizations with the operational expertise, leadership development and technology enhancements they need to tackle today's societal challenges.

While volunteerism is a year-round priority, we place special emphasis on community service every October in celebration of UPS's Global Volunteer Month. Some UPSers use this time to help with volunteer projects put on by their team or department, while others spend their time helping an organization with which they're already involved.

Local Grants ProgramThe UPS Foundation allocates local funding for each of UPS's 13 districts, regions and business units so our employees can determine which organization will best address the unique needs of their communities. For an organization to be eligible, their UPS volunteer must log 50 hours of community service and be nominated by UPS's local Community Involvement Committee. At the end of Global Volunteer Month, The UPS Foundation awards a $10,000 grant to a nonprofit in each U.S. region and business unit. Some of our grantees to date include the Ana si Copii House and Seton Home.

Corporate Grants ProgramIn addition to U.S.-based organizations, The UPS Foundation also provides funding to other nonprofits around the world. In 2013, The UPS Foundation awarded a $1.2 million grant to the Points of Light Foundation, the world's largest organization dedicated to volunteer leadership services. The funds will go toward developing innovative technologies and training to better mobilize volunteers in times of disaster, assisting a veteran's leadership program and the sponsorship of the 2014 Points of Light Tribute awards.

Jim Casey Community Service Award"Martin Luther King, Jr., said we should look out for the least, the lost and the left out. That's what Tony is doing."

- John Linder, Mayor, Chester, PA

The 20 Million by 2020 Pledge

To reinforce our commitment to making a real difference in the world through volunteering,
UPS recently pledged to complete 20 million hours of global volunteerism and community service by the end of 2020.
By achieving this goal, UPS’s total volunteer hours will increase more than 12% and non-profits will receive assistance valued at more than $460 million.

Honoring Tony Heath's Heart of Gold

Tony Heath has been dedicated to helping everyone around him for his entire life. That's why he received The UPS 2014 Jim Casey Community Service Award, which recognizes one UPS employee each year for their exceptional community volunteerism.

Even though it's an hour away from his home, Tony chooses to work in Chester, PA, because that's where he's needed most. He worked with community leaders and UPS to establish The Better Living Center, a community resource center where people can get health screenings and groceries for their families (since there isn't a supermarket in the neighborhood).

When Tony travels to Camden, NJ, he takes his sense of community with him. There, he helps the homeless residents of "tent city" get clothing and propane tanks to stay warm on cold winter nights. The UPS Foundation will visit in 2014 to bring supplies and help meet the people's needs there.

It's no surprise that Tony Heath won this award. He has focused his life on making a difference in our communities, and will continue to do so in the future.

UPS aims to make the world a safer place by using our company's logistics expertise and training to teach safety practices in the local and global communities we serve. The UPS Foundation supports these efforts by creating and funding programs focused on road safety and humanitarian relief.

Road SafetyYear after year, UPS drivers are recognized for being among the safest drivers on the road. Their extensive training teaches them to always be aware of their surroundings and ready to react when necessary. Since motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death among teens, we created the Road Code® Teen Safe Driving Program in partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of America to share our successful training methods and educate young drivers on safe driving habits.

The state-of-the-art interactive program uses classroom instruction and virtual driving simulators to teach safe driving "code" or habits used by all UPS drivers. Our goal is to prepare these 13-18 year old students, who have had little to no exposure to driving, for the real roads where distractions run rampant.

The UPS Foundation pledged to give a total of $2.4 million in road safety grants throughout 2014. Part of those funds will be used to expand UPS Road Code® in the UK, Germany, Canada and China where the main program audience is university students. A grant will also be given to the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation to support their Helmets for Kids program in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.

We also support the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety in an effort to help them reduce global road fatalities by 2020. Our financial support helps provide road safety education to fleet and emergency drivers in developing nations.

Humanitarian ReliefTo have strong, productive communities, we must first have safe communities. So we've allocated cash, emergency funding and in-kind contributions, totaling $6.6 million in 2014, to help build strategic partnerships with global and domestic organizations like American Red Cross, Salvation Army, World Food Program, UNICEF, CARE and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The UPS Foundation's funding, along with UPS's logistics expertise, transportation resources and skilled global workforce, assists these organizations in disaster preparedness, relief and recovery efforts that allow them to respond more effectively and impact more lives.

Disaster PreparednessWe provide funding, personnel, training and other resources to equip global communities. In Turkey, we collaborated with multiple partners to launch "Sağlam Kobi," a unique Business Disaster Resiliency Program meaning "Strong Small and Medium Size Enterprises" in Turkish. The program provides proactive training sessions and offers a suite of online resources including disaster preparedness checklists, FAQs and risk assessment and mitigation action plans for 300,000 businesses. Sağlam Kobi also engages businesses, emergency management agencies and nonprofits to plan for catastrophic earthquakes and improve the businesses' readiness capabilities to withstand a disruption in operations during and after a crisis.

Urgent Humanitarian ReliefUnfortunately, it's not always possible for a community to be fully prepared before disaster strikes. But The UPS Foundation is always prepared to respond with the aid of skilled volunteers. We collaborated with the World Food Programme to create Logistics Emergency Teams (LETs) made up of trained UPS logistics experts who can be deployed within 48 hours of a crisis for up to six weeks.

In 2013, UPS's Oliver Bartolo led the LET response to Typhoon Haiyan. His role required that he coordinate customs clearance, warehouse management and transportation of relief goods arriving in the aftermath of the storm. Oliver was deployed to Manila and Cebu before eventually arriving in Tacloban, the capital of the Region of Eastern Visayas, Philippines, where he managed an LET comprised of 21 skilled volunteers. Together, they secured necessary resources to aid in the expedited delivery of life-sustaining food, materials and medical supplies to 2.5 million survivors whose homes were levelled by the typhoon. Oliver's warehouse operations expertise allowed him and his team to more quickly load and unload relief goods, which decreased the time it took to reach those survivors. The UPS Foundation also pledged $1 million in financial and in-kind assistance to support various efforts of our partner agencies, which include UNICEF, UNHCR, CARE, The Salvation Army, MedShare, the Philippines Red Cross and the World Food Programme.

Since the program's inception in 2008, LETs have been dispatched to deliver disaster relief support more than 15 times. Similarly, we partnered with the American Red Cross to establish Logistics Action Teams (LATs), groups of UPS logistics experts based in the United States who provide support during times of domestic crisis. To date, we've formed LATs in 11 states across the country.

Post-Crisis RecoveryRecovering from a crisis can be even tougher than enduring it. To make the process easier, The UPS Foundation provides resources and expertise that help disaster-stricken areas recover and rebuild more quickly and efficiently.

For instance, we are working with our long-time partner and humanitarian aid organization UNHCR to implement a more efficient donation tracking system. UNHCR was established by the United Nations General Assembly to lead and coordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees.

The UPS Foundation is currently collaborating with UNHCR to develop the next generation of UPS Trackpad to ensure relief supplies get to the people who need them the most. This technology originated from the UPS hand-held device that drivers use to scan packages and evolved into an application that will track donations of goods from the donor organization to the individual receiving the goods. This allows the organization to know exactly how many families received relief items and ensures equal distribution within a monitored site.

The last mile delivery is the most difficult to trace, so we're currently testing tracking solutions with UNHCR which is responsible for the care of 30 million refugees around the world.

Every day, UPS delivers nearly 17 million packages by air, land and sea. We're constantly operating within the environment, so it's important that we do our part to preserve and protect it, long-term.

To do so, The UPS Foundation provides financial and employee volunteer support to environmental programs with a focus on reforestation and conservation, carbon reduction efforts and environmental research/education.

Global Forestry InitiativePreserving the world's forests is critical to reducing carbon, combating climate change and protecting the planet's atmosphere. Investing in reforestation also builds resiliency in our communities by creating jobs and protecting against erosion and mudslides. Which is why, in 2011, we launched the Global Forestry Initiative to plant, protect and preserve trees in urban and rural areas around the world.

The Two Million Tree CampaignIn addition to protecting these living, breathing trees, we’re also planting millions more. In 2013, The UPS Foundation partnered with The Nature Conservancy, Earth Day Network, Arbor Day Foundation and the National Park Foundation to plant 1.3 million trees.

This year, we're back at it again. Our goal: plant one million more trees in 2014. To help us reach this milestone, the Foundation awarded $2.3 million in tree grants to various partner organizations committed to environmental sustainability. While they will do a majority of the planting, 15,000 trees are also being distributed to employees for individual efforts. The trees include a variety of species based on planting location, and now you can see where they're going worldwide.

We work hard to get these trees in the ground. And they work hard once they are there. Find out what two million trees can do to protect your water and reduce air pollution for years to come.

Partnering with The Earthwatch Institute

A United Front with United Way

For more than 30 years, UPS has supported the work of United Way, an organization that shares our dedication to improving lives and strengthening communities where we live and work every day. Within these communities, we're addressing important issues such as early-grade reading, high school graduation rates and financial stability.

But we couldn't create this positive impact on society without the overwhelming help and support of our employees. Since 1982, UPS and our employees – both active and retired – have donated more than $1 billion to United Way, becoming the first company to reach this philanthropic milestone.

And our efforts have not gone unrecognized. Twice we've won United Way's Spirit of America award, the organization's highest national honor for corporate involvement and commitment to building better communities.

Meet the Board of Trustees

Each member of our leadership brings a diverse set of skills and experiences to The UPS Foundation. Together they’re a powerful force for good.

Policies & Governance

The UPS Foundation is a separate legal entity from UPS with tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) IRS tax code. Funding for the Foundation is provided by annual contributions from the company's profits.

We seek to support organizations that, like UPS and The UPS Foundation, do not discriminate in the delivery of charitable services and support diversity, community safety, environmental sustainability and volunteerism. Accordingly, an applicant must certify that it is compliant with The UPS Foundation's Grantee Non-Discrimination Policy in order to receive a grant from The UPS Foundation (policy set forth below). Any organization that receives a grant and is later found to be noncompliant with The UPS Foundation's Grantee Non-Discrimination Policy, as determined in the sole discretion of The UPS Foundation based on all appropriate facts and circumstances, will be required to return all or part of the grant.

Grantee Non-Discrimination Policy

Organizations seeking financial support from The UPS Foundation must certify that their charitable and/or educational programs and services are offered and provided to the intended beneficiaries without discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender, national origin, religion, disability, medical condition, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran or military status, pregnancy, ancestry, age or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, county or local laws, regulations or ordinances.

Notwithstanding the preceding, organizations that offer gender-based programs or have programs and services designed to benefit a specific population will not be considered discriminatory for this reason alone.

Conflict of Interest Policy

The UPS Foundation wants to avoid situations in which the business or personal interests of a trustee, officer, staff member, associate or advisory committee member may inappropriately influence the Foundation's decision-making process.

In-Kind Donations Policy

The UPS Foundation has partnered with top relief agencies to provide in-kind shipments of the highest priority items needed for recovery. We allocate in-kind support to a select group of first responder agencies each year, then activate our global network when these first responder agencies are called to action around the globe. These partnerships ensure that we deliver shipments of the highest priority to meet critical needs in impacted areas and help minimize unsolicited donations, allowing for smoother transportation and distribution of needed commodities. If you would like to donate in-kind products, please visit our partners at: cidi.org or good360.org.